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Unity Coalition, South Florida's Hispanic LGBT group, has asked the Miami Beach Commission to vote in favor of a resolution that the U.S. allow gay men to donate blood.

Here's the letter:

January 15, 2013 Esteemed Mayor Bower & Commissioners, I am writing you today on behalf of Unity Coalition|Coalicion Unida, the first & only organization for the Latino|Hispanic|LGBTQ Community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning) - advancing Equality since 2002. We wholeheartedly SUPPORT the Miami Beach Human Rights Committee Resolution #2012-002, regarding FDA regulations on blood donations – more specifically the lifting of the ban of any man who has been intimate with another man, since 1977.

This regulation is not only antiquated, but based on outdated statistics and unwarranted fears and generalities, no longer accurate, based on scientific evidence we now have available. It limits our very residents from the ability to donate screened blood, and unnecessarily limits the nation’s blood supply.

We have the highest of respect for the FDA and their process and responsibilities, but believe they have not kept up with current international standards for blood donations. Argentina, Australia, Hungary, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and the U.K. have all developed various levels of acceptance of gay men in regards to donating blood, while Russia has lifted the ban altogether.

As of Dec 25, 2012, Mexico has become the first North American country to end its ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men.

Not a single piece of scientific evidence supports the ban. In 2009, the California Assembly Judiciary Committee passed AJR 13, the U.S. Blood Donor Nondiscrimination Resolution (Ammiano-D), calling upon the nation’s Food and Drug Administration to end its more than quarter century ban on gay men donating blood to the nation’s blood banks.

The decades-old federal blood donor ban was introduced as a way to assure the U.S. public that the nation’s blood banks were safe at the genesis of the AIDS epidemic here. But according to much research, medical experts have argued since its inception the ban did little more than discriminate and for more than two decades mandatory blood screening has rendered the ban useless. The current ban is nothing short of discrimination based on antiquated information. It has greatly limited the availability of blood – an issue that is of great importance to a city that is in constant threat of hurricanes, international viruses and other unforeseen occurrences.

Unity Coalition|Coalición Unida joins the Miami Beach Human Rights Committee, Senator John Kerry, and countless other organizations and community leaders in SUPPORTING THE LIFTING OF THE BLOOD DONATION BAN BY THE FDA. We ask you to do so today, for the good of our city, community, its health and its citizens.

Respectfully, Herb Sosa On behalf of the Board of Directors of Unity Coalition|Coalición Unida

Wilson Cruz -- the gay movie, theater and TV actor who came out before he entered show business -- excitedly took to Facebook just after Jodie Foster gave her Golden Globes acceptance speech:

'I'm glad that Jodie Foster thinks that coming out publicly is no big deal and that you don't have to do interviews and make a big deal about it," he wrote. "She's right...TODAY, you MAY NOT HAVE TO, but there was a time, not too long ago, that it was an act of PRIDE, it was ACTIVISM, to proclaim your truth in order to shed light and, sometimes, save lives."

Cruz ended his late Sunday post with an expletive to Foster: "Fuck you."

Moments later, he calmed down a bit and took down the post.

"I thought the tone of it was rude. I thought I was being rude," Cruz, 39, told The Miami Herald on Monday. "It was my -- slash -- reaction. I have to remember that I’m not just talking for myself in this job anymore."

"When one of the most critically-praised actresses speaks about her identity and relationships on one of the largest stages in the world, it shows just how much the tide has turned. Given Jodie Foster's lifetime of achievements, this is a significant moment for LGBT visibility. As more and more high-profile LGBT people like Jodie speak openly, those who do not accept LGBT people will continue to fall behind the times," Herndon said.

Cruz says he might not have removed his Facebook comment if he hadn't ended with the expletive.

"My feelings on it haven’t changed very much. I voiced them in an inappropriate way. I took it down because I wanted to think about it more," he said.

Whether she wanted to be or not, Foster on Monday became a lighting rod for discussion by LGBT personalities, activists and allies.

Blogger Andrew Sullivan: "What unadulterated bullshit."

Ricky Martin: "Jody Foster On your terms. Its your time! Not before nor after. Its when it feels right!"

Writer and comedian Bruce Vilanch: "it's so disappointing that jodie foster still has so much internalized self-hatred."

Broadway's Harvey Fierstein: "Trying desperately to be fair to JODI FOSTER, but what she did last night by standing in front of millions of people and being too ashamed to say the word lesbian or gay sent the message that being gay is something of which to be ashamed."

Cruz's "visceral reaction" to Foster's speech came because he feared that "she was being dismissive of people who came out in the past."

"Fifteen or 20 years ago, it was an act of advocacy. It was an act of activism. It was a response to the lies being told about who we are and who we loved," he said. "Clearly times have changed and they’ve changed for a reason."

Cruz specifically points to Fierstein, who became a Broadway sensation in 1982 starring in his groundbreaking play, Torch Song Trilogy.

"When I see Harvey Fierstein, the first thing I do is run up and give him a hug and say thank you."

Winning a Tony the next year, Fierstein made awards show history when he thanked his lover at the time.

Thirty years later, Foster's Golden Globes appearance was more ambiguous. She mentioned her ex-partner and their children, but never said the words gay or lesbian.

"She clearly was talking about that she had a partner and they’re no longer together. We can’t hand-feed peoples' language, said Cruz, adding that he admires Foster for never publicly pretending about her sexuality.

"She didn’t lie about it. She didn’t go around with a cute boy toy at any time in her career and that’s something to be commended, as well. People come out in due time," he said. "At least she didn't go to her deathbed with it.

"All I wanted was more of an acknowledgement of that. And not be so dismissive of people who risked their lives."

Trying desperately to be fair to JODI FOSTER, but what she did last night by standing in front of millions of people and being too ashamed to say the word lesbian or gay sent the message that being gay is something of which to be ashamed.

Don't believe me? Kathy Lee and Hoda this morning talked about her speech and tripped over themselves to NOT use the word gay or lesbian.

I am saddened that after all of these years and all the progress we've made, her first concern was about how it was going to effect her career and publicity.

Oh, my brothers and sisters, we have so much further to go until we can enjoy the sweet victory of equality.